Crypto Zoology - If You Go Into the Woods Today

If You Go Into the Wood Today, You're in For a Big Surprise.

I like many others am very interested in the strange beasts that people talk about having seen that are near impossible for others to believe in. These creatures include the venerable Yeti and Loch Ness Monster. I am lucky to have a bit more education than most in a number of subjects that help me to interpret what I see, read, and hear about the various sightings and evidence for and against the various beasts and critters.

I've taken a few years of Zoology, and Physical Anthropology and have had a keen interest in Paleontology. That has led me to a lot of recreational reading and research.

I'm not going into a lot of my reading and research or rehash some of the sightings. I am going to pose a question. What if what is being sought is not quite what is being looked for?

A number of years ago there was a major expedition to British Columbia's Lake Okanagan and in the end they had some video taken of "something" that was thought to be Ogopogo the local lake serpent somewhat reminiscent of Nessie. What the experts pointed out was after examining the video was that it was no sea serpent but rather some sort of 12 foot long beaver or otter swimming in the leg. Thus they said it could not be Ogopogo...

Wait-a-minute!? Wouldn't some sort of 12 foot long beaver or otter be something unusual? What if sightings of Ogopogo were of some creature that was a gigantic otter or beaver, perhaps even with a long serpentine neck? I mean it wouldn't be a plesiosaur or sea serpent but wouldn't it be pretty incredible and perhaps solve the mystery? People might not accept what they don't want to see or accept. Scientists looking to disprove a sea serpent might ignore a giant beaver.

I have been looking a bit at another of these legendary creatures - also on the western side of North America. Sasquatch is something being looked for by many. There seems like there might be something, and then nothing. People are looking for a giant North American Ape which walks like a man, but is much bigger. Now there may or may not be Sasquatch and similar creatures around the whole world - but what if Sasquatch were not an Ape?

What if there was another creature which was the size the Sasquatch is supposed to be with feet and footprints something like the Sasquatch should have? What if the Sasquatch were in fact a derivation of the bear? Not a relative of the familiar Grizzly or Black Bear but rather that of a now extinct one. The North American Short Faced Bear - a now extinct bear which would actually be large and powerful enough to hunt and kill Grizzly Bears - has many features that make me think of Sasquatch. One thing noted is that rather than being "pigeon toed" like modern bears the feet of the Short Faced Bear would face straight forward and it seems to have places for muscle attachment that would allow for it to walk further and more easily upright. Bears already are likely to walk on their back legs from time to time. Perhaps those many years ago a branch of the Short Faced Bear found greater success in walking upright and increased its perfection at it? They would stand far taller than any other bear we know. They would be capable of taking on any animal in the North American Wild if not elsewhere. If a hunter came across the body of one, they likely would assume it to be a large bear. The bones too, except to an expert would just look like a bear. An expert would see the differences. But there would be many normal bear found for one of these - and how often do people come across Grizzly Bear carcasses or skeletons? Probably the skeleton would give away more secrets to a passing naturalist? - though I could not be sure.

The more I read about the Short Faced Bear the more I think, it "could" be a Sasquatch candidate. In any case they sure would be evenly matched in many ways. The Shorter muzzle on the bear might make it look more ape-like to a surprised witness. It might frequently walk on its back legs in order to carry food like the carcasses of prey it kills back to its young. I believe the proportion of its legs are a bit different too from the typical modern bear - and tha is with no differentiation.

What if Sasquatch were an unknown relative to the bear rather than an ape? Would we be too disappointed to believe it? Perhaps it might even be smarter than the average bear?

Still if it has continued in existence, it does have many characteristics of the Sasquatch it looks enough like a bear to perhaps go unnoticed and it is from an area that Sasquatch are known from.

You can read up a bit on the North American Short-Faced Bear on the net. The Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre - North Amercian Short-Faced Bear page is an interesting article to read.

Here are some more pages:

• Short-Faced Bear: nature.ca
• Arctodus simus: Wikipedia Imagine the bears in the images on these links standing on hind legs with their front legs hanging like those of a standing ape... or Sasquatch. Imagine them in the light of being a Sasquatch or Yeti.
  
• Giant short-faced bear: BBC - Science & Nature - Wildfacts
• Return to the Ice Age - The La Brea Exploration Guide

YouTube

short faced bear, irkuikem, criptozoology

Short-Faced Bear vs American Lion

Of course the videos aren't made with any thought to my pet theory.

Had to add this other one too...

Bear Power

Short Faced Bear

Well that is it for now!

Later!
~ Darrell

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